Quenya
lepsë
noun. *finger
Variations
- lepse ✧ PE17/089
Primitive elvish
lep
root. pick up/out (with the fingers); finger
Derivatives
- ✶lepe “finger” ✧ VT47/10
- ✶leper “finger” ✧ VT44/16
- ✶lepero “finger” ✧ VT47/10; VT47/24
- ✶lepetā “thumb, ‘picker’; finger” ✧ VT47/27
- ᴺQ. lep- “to take [with fingers], *pick, pluck”
- Q. lepetta “Gondorian hardwood”
- ᴺQ. lepsilë “tendril”
- Q. lepta- “to pick (up/out); to finger, feel with the fingertips” ✧ VT44/16; VT47/10; VT47/24
- ᴺS. leb- “to pick, pluck, take or feel or touch with fingers, cull”
- ᴺS. lemma- “to beckon, crook the finger”
- S. leutha- “to pick (up/out)” ✧ VT47/10
- T. lepta- “to pick (up/out); to finger, feel with the fingertips” ✧ VT47/10; VT47/24
Element in
Beware, older languages below! The languages below were invented during Tolkien's earlier period and should be used with caution. Remember to never, ever mix words from different languages!
Middle Primitive Elvish
lep
root. *finger
Derivatives
Element in
- ᴹ√LEPEN “five” ✧ Ety/LEP
- ᴹ√LEPET “finger” ✧ Ety/LEP
- ᴹQ. Aldalemnar “Week of the Trees” ✧ Ety/GALAD; Ety/YEN
Variations
- lep- ✧ PE19/042 (lep-)
Early Primitive Elvish
lepe
root. *finger
Derivatives
- ᴱ✶lept- ✧ PE13/148
- En. lhê “finger” ✧ PE13/148
- Eq. lempe “crook, hook” ✧ QL/053
- Eq. lep- “to take”
- Eq. let “finger” ✧ QL/053
- Eq. lepsile “tendril” ✧ QL/053
- Eq. lepta “hooked (as a tendril)” ✧ QL/053
- G. leb- “to pick, pluck, take or feel or touch with fingers, cull”
- G. leptha “finger”
- G. lemp “crooked finger; little finger”
- G. lempa- “to beckon, crook the finger”
Variations
- lepe ✧ PE13/148
This root was connected to Elvish words for “finger” for most of Tolkien’s life. It first appeared as an unglossed root ᴱ√LEPE in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. let (lept-) “finger” and ᴱQ. lempe “crook, hook” (QL/53). There were also derivatives in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon such as G. leptha “finger” and G. lempa- “beckon, crook the finger” (GL/53). The root ᴹ√LEP appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s with extensions ᴹ√LEPET “finger” and ᴹ√LEPEN “five” and various derivatives of similar meanings (Ety/LEP).
In Tolkien’s later writings, √LEPEN “five” continued to appear regularly, along with the base root √LEP that was glossed either “finger” (VT42/24) or “pick up (with fingers)” (VT47/10, 24, 27). Despite the stability of the root, the Elvish words for “finger” themselves when through many revisions; see Q. leper and S. leber for discussion.